J.U. Scribe's Blog, page 5

Find Out Which Editing You Need

Step 5 in the self-publishing process: Hire an editor

Easier said than done.

To help you make an informed decision on editing you need to understand there are different types of edits freelance editors are experienced in and what the purpose is behind those edits. The editing you’ll need will depend on your strengths and weaknesses, the content of your book and the stage of the project you’re in. Here is a breakdown of the main types of editing that editors can perform for you.

Ghostwrite

This is where an editor takes the raw ideas and concepts of the writer and creates a full manuscript. Even after the editor finishes the manuscript you will likely need to run it through another round of editing. You will also need to doublecheck for plagiarism especially if that editor has churned out several similar manuscripts in the past.

Copyediting

This is a light editing that fixes mechanical errors in your manuscript such as spelling, grammar, and punctuation. While this is often interchanged with line editing, what distinguishes this type of editing from line editing is that it’s less extensive. The purpose of this edit is to polish your manuscript, so your book looks its best. Usually, this is least extensive and usually the cheapest edit you can do.

Line Editing

As mentioned earlier this is often confused with copyediting. Per Archway Publishing, line editing falls between copyediting and developmental editing. As implied by the name this editing examines each line of your book. While grammar and spelling are looked at, this editing looks at the syntax of your text on a detailed level. If a sentence is too wordy or ambiguous a line editor should be able to spot it and help you find the right words to express what you’re trying to say.

Mechanical Editing

Per Archway Publishing, this type of editing looks at the “application of a particular style.” If you ever had to write an essay or research paper in high school and college likely your teacher asked you to write in a given style whether it was the Chicago Manual or Associated Press (AP) style. These styles dictate how you site sources. This editing is mainly applicable to manuscripts where you will need to cite sources such as a how-to or research book. These editors will focus on punctuation, capitalization, abbreviations or anything else related to style rules.

Substantive Editing

This editing looks at the overall organization and presentation of the manuscript but it also looks at the overall content. It is detailed in nature because it’s looking at the actual style or theme at a micro-level. This could involve looking for redundancies or clarifying a scene or chapter, one sentence at a time.

Developmental Editing

Also known as a structural edit, this editing looks at the big picture. This editing is focused more on the structure or content of the manuscript. Ideally, you will want to complete your manuscript before handing your manuscript for a structural edit so the editor can see how your story reads from beginning to end. A developmental editor will be the one to spot any plot holes, an unnecessary character or a scene that needs to be cut out. This is the most extensive and costliest of the edits.

Proofreading

This is a final review of the manuscript before it gets published. It involves checking for any grammar or formatting issues that may have been missed. It is advisable to save this for when your manuscript is completed and has gone through rounds of extensive editing.

Keep in mind that if you reach out to a professional editor, he or she may only specialize in certain types of editing. While they might bundle some of their editing together keep in mind, they may not do different types of editing at the same time. For example, editing that is looking at the big picture (developmental) would likely be serviced separately from a sentence-level edit. If you are unsure which type of editing they do, contact them to make sure you are on the same page. If you are fortunate to find an editor that does multiple types of editing at once that will save you time and money. However, the reality is that you may need to reach out to multiple editors to get comprehensive editing for your book. However, editing comes at a cost. And with the devastating efforts the recent COVID-19 pandemic is having on the economy, every penny really counts! I recommend reading this post to learn more about the costs behind editing.

If you are strapped for cash or still not sure what editing you need, ask yourself these following questions. Is your manuscript completed? If no and you are struggling to complete your draft a ghostwriter can do the heavy lifting for you by writing the full manuscript. If you answered yes to the first question, you should then ask yourself what are aspects of your writing that need the most attention? If you got feedback from a beta reader, critique partner or group this will be key in deciding what types of editing and how much you need for your book. If plot issues were called out, you need a more extensive edit that will fix plot and structural issues. Most fiction works will want to start with a structural or developmental edit. As I stated earlier, this tends to be pricey but honestly, if you can make room in your budget I personally insist that fiction writers take advantage of these editors! No amount of copyediting will fix serious plot issues! Otherwise, you may find that you have a manuscript that is technically “perfect” but has a plot that is crumbling at the seams.

Next, consider the type of manuscript. Is it fiction or nonfiction? If it’s fiction and you have no need to cite sources, you can skip the mechanical editing altogether. If you are writing nonfiction and your book requires a lot of research or quotations from other scholarly sources, you may want to consider a mechanical editor if your budget allows. If you decide not to get this editing done familiarize yourself with at least one of the styles guides out there by consulting a style guidebook. Most Word documents also can assist writers in using a consistent style in citing their sources. Under References in the top navigation ribbon, look for the Style dropdown and select your desired style. Again, do your research on which style will work best for your manuscript and stick to one.

Once you finish the weightier editing, I would strongly encourage any writer to do at least a line edit or copyedit. This will catch any mechanical errors that were missed. Copyediting is especially helpful in the later stages of the publishing process. Think of the structural editing as inspecting the foundation of a house. You want to make sure the house is structurally sound and sturdy before it’s ready to be put on the market. The line editing and copyediting can be likened to the finishing touches that make the house look clean, polished, and overall aesthetically pleasing for visitors. Similarly, this type of editing can make your book more readable and visually pleasing. At the bare minimum invest in at least a structural and line edit. After all, if you want to make a good first impression you want a book that’s both strong and polished.

 

What’s a beta reader? And why you need one!

Once you got your manuscript edited to the best of your ability it is time to have another pair of eyes to read your manuscript. You may be wondering why do I need to have others read it to you already self-edited? In the last chapter you already covered the basic elements of writing such as structure, pacing, characterization, and setting and how to improve on those areas. The real question is not how well you think you did but how others view your manuscript. After all, they are the ones who will be buying the book and reviewing it. If your book is not connecting with readers or the plot just isn’t engaging to readers you want to know before you publish. Skipping this crucial step will end up hurting sales and bad reviews. This is why you need others to read your manuscript before it gets published.

It’s important to learn if others find your manuscript readable and enjoyable. For fiction and even some nonfiction works (e.g. memoirs), you want readers to connect with your book.

Some writers may turn to family and friends to get feedback on their stories. Others may have a writing critique partner. For those looking for a writing critique partner, Critique Match is a good starting point for writers. While those two groups of individuals may sound like easy choices you want to make sure they can give you honest and objective feedback. Be wary of going to people who will merely tell you what you want to hear. You need someone that can give honest and objective feedback. Even if it’s not always what you want to hear, constructive feedback is meant to help you grow as a writer and improve your manuscript so it can be the best that it can be. That’s where beta readers come into play in the publishing process.

What are beta readers? According to NyBookEditors, a beta reader is a person who reads and provides feedback on your manuscript before publishing. They are not the same as editors. While they may catch glaring typos, their focus is on readability. So why are they needed especially if you self-edited? While your book may be technically “perfect” it may be filled with plot holes, POV shifts, or the storyline may be completely implausible. As writers, it’s hard to read our work with complete objectivity since our own bias tends to get in the way. Beta readers can catch the common pitfalls that first-time writers often overlook and can give you constructive feedback to correct it from a reader’s perspective. Their feedback is likely to mirror future readers who may read your book. If they are pointing out something that isn’t working in your manuscript chances are other readers will pick up on the same things.

How can you find a beta reader? Many can be found in online writing communities such as Fictionpress, Wattpad, Goodreads, and Reddit. You can also find them through popular social media platforms. For example, there are Facebook groups that connect writers to beta readers such as Beta Readers and Critique and 10 Minute Novelists Group. If possible, try to get more than one beta reader. It’s good to have a backup just in case one decides to bail on your project. Another important reason is that if a beta reader provides feedback for a change and you are not so convinced you can get a second or third opinion. If you are hearing the same issue echoed from multiple beta readers high chances are it’s a problem!

When choosing a beta reader, you want to do your homework. You want to know what types of genres they will read. On Fictionpress for example, each Beta profile is required to fill out what genres they read, what they prefer not read, preferred language as well as their strengths and weaknesses. Outside of Fictionpress, all of that information may not be readily available so you will need to reach out to the person directly if possible. It is very important to find beta readers that at least read your genre if not specialize in it. For example, if you are writing a Sci-Fi story set in space a beta reader who mostly reads romance may not be able to provide you the in-depth insight you need to convey concepts like aerodynamics and gravity accurately and realistically. It is also advisable to come prepared with questions or notes for the beta to focus on. Don’t be afraid to ask them what aspects of your writing need the most attention. Those early callouts will cue the beta reader on what parts to pay extra attention to. If the person reading your story is already knowledgeable in a specific genre or subject matter, their input will carry that much more weight not to mention they can give you specific advice to apply.

Keep in mind that beta readers do not replace the role of editors. Some of the suggestions may simply be a matter of preference. At the end of the day, you are the one who decides on whether to act on their suggestions or not. This is not encouraging you to be quick to blow off their advice but you do need to use discernment. That’s why it’s important to select beta readers who read your genre in the first place. Keep in mind the limitations of your beta reader. If your story overlaps several genres (e.g. Sci-Fi/Romance) you may need the advice from more than one beta especially if the other subgenre(s) fall outside the scope of their knowledge. This is another instance where having more than one beta will prove to be invaluable. You may also need to do additional research or consult an outside subject matter depending on the content of your book.

The good news is most beta readers don’t charge for their services which is good news for your bank account! So, don’t skip out on getting a beta reader. Even if the changes call for you to go back and make major revisions or do a full rewrite, don’t worry. It may seem like they are creating more work for you but if the changes are valid and make sense it will usually make the manuscript that much stronger. The stronger the manuscript, the less you have to spend on editing.

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Stay tuned on my next chapter where I dish on the types of editing your book will need before getting published.

Step 3- Self-Editing

The next logical step in the writing process is proofreading your story for any typos, spelling errors, grammar and punctuation errors. Having a good grasp on the mechanics of writing such as grammar and spelling will help you a great deal in this step. There are books and even online resources that you can reference whether you have questions on how to use semicolons or punctuating dialogue. Most writers will likely start with the Spelling and Grammar checker that comes with their Word Document or similar tool that comes automatically on the document program you are using. That tool will typically check the basic mechanics such as spelling, grammar, and punctuation. However, getting a book ready to be published requires more than running the spell-checker. After all most spell-checkers are not 100% fool-proof nor does it even scratch the surface of the issues that may plague your writing.

It’s important to do some spot editing as you’re writing. However once completed, it’s strongly advised to read your manuscript from beginning to end to catch errors and overall continuity issues. One suggestion that could help with the self-editing process is reading the manuscript aloud to yourself. You may be surprised just how many awkwardly-worded phrases or run-on sentences you find by reading the book aloud vs. silently reading it in your head. Another thing to look into is online tools that help with editing. This includes open-source software that writers can plug their text into. The software or plugin will then analyze the text for grammar issues, repetitive phrasing, awkward sentence structuring amongst several other things. One, in particular, some may find helpful is Pro Writing Aid. It’s a powerful tool for editing and can check for:

• Clichés and redundancies

• Grammar mistakes

• Spelling

• Passive voice

• Sentence variety

• plagiarism

Another good tool is Grammarly. This tool not only looks at mechanical issues like grammar, spelling, and punctuation but also clarity, sentence structure, and style. If you sign up for the premium version you can unlock advanced feedback to improve engagement, delivery, and plagiarism. Another cool feature about it is that you can download it as a free plug-in for Microsoft Word. Keep in mind to use the premium version you can expect to be billed annually at $11.66/month. The highest tier “Business” is geared towards teams. The third option is a little higher at $12.50/month on an annual basis. Unless you are working with multiple people on the same project you honestly can do without the third option since you can get all the features you need with the middle plan.

These are great tools however one must be ready to subscribe to maximize the fullest capabilities of these tools. If you are cheap-skate like me you can always cancel your subscription before your 30-days is up. However, you may decide to make a long-term investment and keep those tools to improve your writing for the long-run. Will these tools replace the need for an actual editor? No. But it’s a good start to tighten up your manuscript. The cleaner your manuscript the less professional editing you will need later on!

As you use some of these online tools you may begin to realize areas need to improve in. Perhaps you realized you are being too wordy. If so ask yourself if you can express the thought more simply versus throwing big words around. Big words are not bad in themselves. I use them in my vocabulary both in my writing and when I interact with others. However, your objective is to get your point across to your reader in a way that feels natural. When using certain words not widely used, make sure you know the meaning and if it fits within the context of your text. You don’t want your words to sound misplaced or come off like you’re trying too hard to sound smart. Using a dictionary will help you understand the different shades of meaning behind a word or term.

A thesaurus is another great tool for any writer. It will help you find synonyms if you are trying to find a different word to express the same meaning. Keep in mind that even synonyms don’t always carry the exact meaning especially words that convey emotions. There are varying degrees of emotion. For example, if you look up synonyms for the word anger you will get many choices including annoyance and enrage. While both mean similar things, the latter carries a heightened intensity that the word “annoyance” does not fully capture. On the other side of the coin if your character is mildly irritated but can rein in their feelings then annoyance or a similar word would be a better fit.

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Stay tuned for the next step which is everything you want to know about beta readers!

Craft your best manuscript- Nail the beginning

It can be said that writing is an art craft. Any literate person can technically write something down. But like any skill writing has to be honed or perfected to be something of value to the reader.

When writing it’s incredibly important to understand what you are writing and why. Is it to inform, teach, persuade or entertain? Why should they read your book? Your answers will determine not only the words you use but the tone you use and how you structure your content to convey your subject matter or story in a way that’s clear, understandable and interesting to your audience. Think about what makes your content unique. What makes it valuable? Highlight things that make your manuscript stand out from similar books. After all, writing just a “good” book may not elicit the praise and accolade that a “great” book will receive. Unless you’re a high-profile author with a loyal fanbase you have to make a truly compelling book just to stand out.

When self-publishing, it is very important to craft your best manuscript. That’s why it’s essential to master the basics of writing. While this is not meant to be a writing guide, I will take this moment to discuss key elements that you want to get right. Granted the advice will be geared mostly towards fiction but the principles can still apply to nonfiction.

Almost all stories have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Of the three parts which do you think is the most important? Think about when you are at a bookstore or perusing the preview of a book on Amazon. Isn’t the beginning typically the first thing you read? The first few pages are usually the first thing a person reads (besides the title and blurb) and it starts from the very first line. The following lines should work together to reel the reader in until they’re hooked. Once a reader is hooked it will be hard for them to put the book down. And if they are reading the free online preview on Amazon you want the reader to care enough to find out what happens next.

Writing a Killer Beginning

The beginning of the book is critical if you want readers to go from casual browsers to customers. If you fail to grab your reader by the end of the first chapter or at least the end of the online preview, there’s a high chance they will lose interest altogether and move on to something else. Given that people are bombarded with outside distractions and have a plethora of options at their fingertips you must create a beginning so irresistible that readers will have no choice but to read on to find out what happens next. But how do hook readers? You first need to grab their attention. Raise questions in their minds that they want answers to. At the same time give them a taste of what they can expect without giving too much away. And importantly make your reader care about your story or content.

Look at some of the books you like and study the author’s approach to their beginning. Without copying, analyze what approach they used and why it interested you. What information did they include or didn’t include? Take note of those pointers and incorporate that into your book. While there is no one right way to start a book, here are some guidelines of dos and don’ts that most would agree on.

Don’t use your beginning as an info dump. That includes giving long drawn out descriptions of your characters or the setting. Even for nonfiction, this should be avoided if possible. While the reader should be introduced to your character you don’t want to give out too much information too soon or it will bog down the plot before it can even begin.

Do: Reveal details about the characters or plot gradually. Give readers just enough information so they can follow what’s going on without overwhelming or boring them. Leave them questions to whet their appetite and create a sense of mystery.

Don’t introduce too many characters and subplots right away. It’s harder to keep track of not to mention jarring to read.

Do Introduce a few characters at a time even if your main character is in a crowd. It will be easier for readers to get to know and become emotionally invested with a few characters at a time. You want readers to become invested enough in your story early on if you want them to continue reading.

Don’t: Avoid common opening clichés. Examples include “waking up to an alarm clock” or “starting with a character describing their features in a mirror.” I’m sure you can add more to this list. The point is these are overdone, unoriginal, and forgettable. You don’t want to turn off readers early on.

Do: Be creative and think outside the box. Nothing grabs people’s attention than doing something readers won’t expect. If you still decide to use clichés try to put a unique spin on them that makes them feel fresh and original.

If you find that the beginning could be stronger go back and tweak it. Perhaps you may find that you can change when your story starts so the inciting incident or action starts sooner. Ask a friend or family member to read it and get their honest feedback. Later on, in this book, we’ll discuss how you can get others involved in your writing process.

This is only step two in the journey to self-publish. Stay tuned for coming posts on the next steps in the publishing process. Click here to find out what step one was.

 

How to Avoid Spoilers

Spoiler Alert!

She dies at the end of the book!

A beloved character makes a cameo in a movie.

That couple will break up after the season finale.

These are all examples of spoiler alerts. I’m not going to say which ones were inspired by real movies, books, or TV shows. I’ll let your imagination fill in the blanks. I don’t really want to ruin your day with a spoiler (although I have a surprise at the end of this blog). A part of you secretly wants to know what really happens at the end of your favorite book. Yet, a part of you doesn’t want to know…at least not right away. Having at least some key information withheld from you adds to the suspense. It’s that anticipation of what’s going to happen next that moves you to stick around for the end. However once you learn a spoiler whether by mistake or by choice, that element of surprise is taken away now that you already know that your two beloved characters get together in the end or that a main character ends up dying at the end.

If you’re like me I don’t like spoilers. And if you try to spoil something for me I will resent you. I would rather avoid them until I get to watch my favorite show or read the book for myself. However in the age of social media and the inert need for some people to be the first ones to spill the latest news, it is almost impossible to avoid them completely. Some are discreet about posting spoiler alerts. Perhaps they’ll label their article or comment with “spoiler alert” to warn unsuspecting readers who don’t know and don’t want to know quite yet. Sadly in some cases people give away the whole plot indiscriminately. I see spoilers in all facets of entertainment and unfortunately books are no exception. I even had a reviewer give away a crucial plot point. So how do you avoid unwanted spoilers? We’ll try to answer this from the standpoint of a writer.

You can’t stop people from posting spoilers. Once you make your full book available to the public it’s inevitable that some key information will be shared. The more visibility or the more rabid your fanbase is there’s a higher chance to see spoilers circulating on the web. While you can’t stop it completely you can try to curb spoilers in two key ways.

Book Descriptions. As a writer you are the first line of defense. As writers especially self-published authors we have full control over the presentation of our manuscript. That includes the description. One of the first things a reader will see is the blurb. If you’re not careful you can easily give away most of your plot in a book description whether it’s the blurb at the back of your book or the description posted on an online retailer (e.g. Amazon). Think of your blurb as a preview for what readers can expect. Although you don’t want the blurb to be too vague you also don’t want to spoil the plot or give a laundry list of what happens in the book. It’s like watching a movie trailer that gives away the whole storyline in 2 minutes. If you were to do something similar in the blurb, what incentive would the reader have to read it if they already know what is going to happen in the end? The trick though is striking a fine balance in what you share about your book and how much. You can liken your description to an appetizer at a sit-down restaurant. Like an appetizer the description should hold the customer until the main entrée arrives. But it should also leave them plenty of room for the main entrée if not whet their appetite for what is to come.
Book Reviews. Book reviewers can add credibility to your work and can garner much needed visibility to your book especially if they give you a glowing review. At the same token, reviews are also opportunities for a reader to give away key plot points whether intentionally or not. While some book reviews particularly editorial reviews are meant to be a more in-depth critique of the book they still don’t need to reveal all the different plot twists to the reader. Whether you contacted your reviewer directly or asked multiple people via a free giveaway, how can you ensure you’re getting a well-thought out review without needlessly spoiling the book? If you’re choosing reviewers it’s advisable to look at their past reviews. Study their style or pattern of reviews done. If they are notorious for posting spoilers and you don’t want that then you should steer clear of them. Even then reviews are not scripted. Granted it is not advisable to coerce the reviewer on what to say. The reviewer may feel like they are being micro-managed and may end up resenting you. While most know not to do that you could politely ask the reviewer to refrain from revealing spoilers in their reviews. Of course you want to be very tactful and gracious in how you word this. After all they are doing you a favor. If they need to refer to a specific example to highlight why a scene or character worked (or didn’t work) and it could potentially give away some of the plot they can at least provide a disclaimer within their review early on. To me that’s a reasonable request that doesn’t overly restrict the reviewer while at the same doesn’t spoil the book for other readers.

Even then you can’t stop nor monitor reviewers who are reviewing of their own accord. If you feel the reviewer is dishing out spoilers out of spite or trolling you could try reporting the comments. Unless the comment is also defamatory, threatening or spammy in nature it may be harder to justify to the site admin to take the comment down just on the grounds of spoilers alone. So choose your battles carefully.

What about other books (or other media) you’re interested in. How do you prevent yourself from being spoiled? If you truly want to avoid spoilers you will have to avoid the internet. Even indiscriminate web browsing (ex: scrolling through your Google news feed) can have you stumble across a spoiler you weren’t prepared for. However for many that wouldn’t be feasible. Even then you are not completely free from overhearing a passing conversation discussing spoilers on a popular book, show, or movie. If you know the people, you could kindly remind them you haven’t seen or read the material being discussed. That should be their cue to be discreet in how much they dish out in your presence. Or you can always plug in your favorite earbuds if you can’t just get up and leave.

Online it’s trickier but it is still doable to minimize your exposure. For example if you haven’t read a book it may be best to steer clear of blogs, sites, or online forums that discuss the book in question. It is far more likely for someone to slip up and spoil it for you in those spaces.  It’s best to finish the book first before diving in the those forums or checking social media posts from friends that are avid fans who have already seen or read the work in question.

In conclusion you can’t stop spoilers. But if you are particular about spoilers like I am you can you try to curb your exposure. Even if you’re of the opinion that they are not a big deal, just be mindful that others do mind so just be discreet before hitting send.

***** Spoiler Alert *****

I’m working on a new project that I’m hoping to release later this spring. I’m not releasing too many details yet as things are subject to change but I’m hoping to take what I learned over the years on self-publishing, marketing, and the art of writing and use that to inform, inspire and empower readers and writers alike. Expect future posts to reveal each key step every writer should do (and do well) when preparing for their next book launch.

 

 

 

 

Self Publishing 101: Have a Plan

As we crossed into a new year (and a new decade at that) many are typically thinking about setting new goals or resolutions to reach. One of my goals for 2020 was to post more blog content that my followers will find helpful. When thinking about my last post on the highlights for 2019, it dawned on me that the most popular post of all time is: 7 Things that I wish I knew before Self Publishing. I think one of the reasons why that post got the most comments and likes was that it resonated with so many readers who are likely aspiring writers who either already self-published or were in the process of self-publishing.

Like many first time self-publishers I found myself unprepared for the business side of publishing. High level I knew what to do but not how to do it well. As a result several mistakes were made that I had to go back and correct. One of my biggest takeaways I mentioned was that I wish I had a plan before self-publishing. After a series of trial and errors I learned that the very first step in self-publishing is have a plan. Why is a plan so important to self-publishing? And how can you create your own plan for your next launch? Read on as I answer each of those questions.

Planning: Why important?

The planning stage is first and arguably the most important step in the publishing journey. Unfortunately, this step is easily glossed over or skipped altogether by new writers. This is a very grave mistake for writers. Rushing through the process often results in many careless mistakes being made. The result is often a “half-baked” book that comes across as unprofessional, cheap, and poorly written to readers. This will cost you in loss revenue, poor reviews, and not to mention untold frustration.

As a writer I challenge you to do two things. First you need to back up for a minute and set goals for yourself. Is your goal to land on the New York’s Times best seller’s list or support yourself full time from your writing? Or maybe your goals are more modest. Perhaps you see this merely as a side venture or a way to make extra cash on the side. Your goal for your book may be different from the next writer. After all success is how you define it. If you have an ambitious goal you may want to start with smaller benchmarks that are more attainable. Whatever goal you decide on you need a plan. Without a concrete plan on how you are going to reach your publishing goals you may find yourself floundering in this ever-changing, competitive market. It then becomes critical to have a clear vision of who your book is for and how to get it in front of your readers.

For a writer obscurity is almost as bad if not worse than getting poor reviews. That’s why it’s essential to come up with a comprehensive plan that will address how you will sell the book.

How to build your plan

During this early publishing stage, you should be able to answer the who, what, where, when, why, and how of your approach. Let’s take a look at some of the most important questions that you would want to answer before you get too far along in the process:

Who is the book for?
What is the book for?
Where will you publish the book?
When will you publish?
Why are publishing?
How will you publish?

Of course, these aren’t the only questions you need to ask yourself. Rather this should form the basis for the other questions you will need to address in your plan. But if you can’t answer any one of these basic questions you need to stop where you are and go back to the drawing board before you hit publish because you’re not ready. I would recommend coming up with the plan before you even write your book. Why do I say that?

Consider one of the questions: Who is the book for? That question alone should prompt you to identify your target audience. Knowing your audience for your work could help you determine whether there will be a demand for the type of book you write. Knowing the demand for your particular genre/subgenre and the size of that audience could be an indicator for the amount of sales you can expect to make. Granted knowing there is a smaller market for a particular genre shouldn’t necessarily stop you from writing what you want. On the flip side having the knowledge early on can help you set realistic expectations for your book and even tailor your book to your target audience’s expectations.

Conversely without knowing your target audience, you won’t know who or how to market your book to. You will have a much harder time marketing your book without an audience to read it. These are two things that could happen if the intended audience or content is unclear to the reader 1) it will go largely ignored 2 readers who have no appreciation for your genre/subgenre or your style of writing will rate it poorly because they thought it was one way when they first purchased it only to discover “it wasn’t what they expected.” As I’ll mention later in a future post, marketing can be pricey (depending on the methods you use) and not to mention time-consuming! So, you want to make your marketing efforts count. To save you precious time, energy and resources it’s better to direct your efforts to the people that are more likely to read it.

Once we can answer the basic questions now, we can start drilling down another layer? For example, for the question: How will you publish? You have the option to traditionally publish or self-publish. But digging deeper you can consider what self-publishing service you will use (e.g. Amazon’s KDP Select, Smashwords, Lulu, etc.)? What type of format will your book be available in (e.g. eBook, Paperback, hardcover, audiobook)?

Another very important question is: how will you market the book? Other questions to consider are: How about beta readers, editors, book formatters, cover designers, and more? They all play an important role in getting the book ready before it’s launched to the world. Will you handle this yourself or hire professional help? Granted you may not have all the details this early on and that’s OK. As you move along in the other steps you should start filling in the gaps. As part of your exercise think about supporting questions for the who, what, where, when, why, and how questions.

Stay tuned for future posts where I break down each step in the self-publishing process.

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For those interested in learning more about building a detailed plan around your next book launch sign up to my free newsletter here and I will give you a free template as a starting point.

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Highlights from 2019

2019 was a year of firsts for me. The first time visiting Brazil. The first time going to an International Convention. The first time learning Portuguese (attempted to), first time taking a dip in the ocean, and the first time camping all before turning 30.

It was also the first time trying new ways to reach new readers and viewers alike. As the year comes to a close it’s good to reflect on what went well and what didn’t work. Thanks to the WordPress stats and insights feature I was able to get a snapshot on how well my blog performed. Here’s some blog highlights from 2019 and what I can learn from those insights as I approach 2020.

Blog Highlights for 2019

Visitors: 362
Most Popular post: What you should know about Historical Fiction
Most popular referrers: Search engines
Country with highest viewers: United States

Here’s a brief breakdown of the key highlights.

Traffic. While this is not an impressive figure in comparison to blogs with much larger traffic it’s an increase over last year by approximately 77%! Most people accessed my blog through search engines. While most of the popular search terms were classed under “Unknown Search terms” I was still able to get some insight into what search terms people are using to find my blog. This impresses upon me the importance of search engine optimization (SEO) and making sure I’m being strategic in what keywords I use and where I place them to make the posts visible in search results.

Content: The types of search terms people searched on a had a correlation to the blog posts that got the most traffic. My most popular post this year was my post on writing historical fiction. This surprised me a bit considering this post was from 2017. Yet it reminds me of two things. 1) Older posts can and still do resonate with readers 2) There is still keen interest in this topic and the HF genre at large from readers and writers alike. Since my book fall under this genre expect more posts on historical fiction!

Demographics. Most of my traffic came from the U.S., which is no surprise since my content is written in English (US). While I did get a number of visitors from predominantly English-speaking countries such as Canada, the UK, and Australia, I also got sizeable traffic from eastern nations such as the Philippines which came in 2nd after the U.S.! These insights reminds me that my blog’s reach is international and that I should see it as an opportunity to attract and engage with readers from new global markets.

Here are some new initiatives from this year that I hope will help me attract and engage new viewers domestically and abroad.

Site Redesign
[image error]Photo by Burst on Pexels.com

This was an ongoing project; one that would span a couple of weeks. It started with changing the WordPress theme and then moving and condensing my content around to match my vision for the site. Part of my main vision for my site was to create an “official” site for my books while still keeping my blog intact. My story series that follows Before the Legend has now been moved under World of Aegea, the fictionalized world that Troy lives in.

Part of my redesign efforts was to encourage more engagement and improve accessibility to my published book. My Books page now just contains all relevant product info for Before the Legend including updated International sales info. I realize my site reaches people beyond the U.S. so I want to accommodate those visitors and make my work more accessible to an international audience.

In harmony with my site’s tagline I added a new page dedicated to writing resources for writers looking for advice or tips. I started compiling a directory of resources for writers whether it’s writing tips, book review sites, sites to promote their book and much more! If there’s a site you feel that should be added don’t be afraid to post it in the comments section and I will review it for consideration.

Kindle Countdown Deal for Black Friday- Cyber Monday

For the first time this year I ventured away from the free runs that Amazon KDP offers for writers but instead opted to do a Kindle Countdown deal. For those not familiar with Kindle Countdown deals I recommend reading this post where I breakdown some of the features of this promotional tool that KDP Select offers writers using this platform. For a limited amount of time I was able to discount my book to $.99, a 67% difference from its normal sale price of $2.99.

Considering it was my first time using this promotional feature and having a limited budget I didn’t want to spend money to have my book featured on various book promo sites. To ensure at least one site would feature my book for my experiment I had to submit my books to as many sites as I could. Granted only seven of those sites featured my Kindle countdown deal but I was still thrilled for the ones that did agree to feature my book (at no cost) given such short notice. While the Kindle Countdown deal wasn’t nearly as successful as my free runs from the past it was a good learning lesson in using the right keywords and categories, planning well in advance and ensuring your book gets featured on high traffic promo sites.

While things that didn’t always go as planned I see it as a learning opportunity. I have a better idea of what is working and what I should work on for next time. So what does 2020 hold? While I can’t predict the future I can help shape the future I want to see. My vision for the future begins with the steps I’m taking now. Below are some of those goals as it relates to my writing.

Goals for 2020

Posting more regular content on my blog.
Target my marketing reach to book reviewers in the middle grade/ historical fiction genre which I’ve already gotten new leads. My target audience is middle grade readers and moms so that’s who I want to concentrate my attention to.
Engage with more readers via my newsletter.
Get my book into local bookstores and libraries
Double the repository on my Writing Resources Page
Complete my newest writing project!

In case anyone noticed there is a new project page for the new book I’m writing on. It’s still in development so I will be very tight-lipped on the details. My goal is to have it published in Spring 2020. Stay tuned for future posts and morew details on this project.

For those interested in getting the latest scoop on my newest project you can sign up for my free email newsletter.

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How to Win at Kindle Countdown Deals

Happy Friday to my followers.

This week I decided I was going to cash in on Black Friday and run a Kindle Countdown Deal on my book, Before the Legend this weekend. Considering it was a fairly last minute decision I had to scramble the week before to find a list of sites that would promote my book while not spending anything in the process (besides time). I’ve done free runs before but never a Kindle Countdown deal so this is still new territory for me.

For those not familiar with Amazon promotions, authors enrolled in KDP Select have several different options to promote their book. One way is through a Kindle Countdown deal which is what I’ll be focusing for most of this post. The main difference between a free run and a Kindle countdown deal is that the latter is simply discounting your book from its normal sale price by a significant margin. Your promotional period can range from 1-5 days. You can split your promotional period into separate days (i.e.. Monday & Wednesday) or have it run consecutive days (i.e. Monday-Wednesday).  If you want you can set the price points at a certain time and date between the start and end of your promotion.

In my example, I decided to set my eBook to $.99 from Friday 11/29 6am PST-12/1 12am PST. Then starting on 12/2 (Cyber Monday) the price will jump to $1.99 before the book resumes its normal price of $2.99. Note the time of your promotion is set in Pacific Standard Time regardless of your time zone so keep that in mind when you’re spreading the word to others.

Once you select your promotion dates and pricing info you will not be able to add another promotion until the selected promotion period ends. If you realize you made a mistake you can still go back and make changes to the initial promotion you created or cancel it altogether. Note you cannot make any changes within 24 hours of your promotion’s start date.

Getting the word out

To maximize the success of your promotion whether it be a free run or a Kindle Countdown deal, you want to get the word out to many people and channels as possible. There’s many different ways to get the word out.

Social Media

Get the word out to your network of followers whether it’s Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Goodreads.
In Facebook you can generate some buzz around your promotion by creating an event if you have a Facebook page. You can then invite your friends to the virtual event. Don’t forget to post pertinent information such as the price, promotion dates, and link(s) where your book can be found.
Twitter: This is another social media platform that could be helpful in getting the word out granted you have a lot of followers. I tried using trending yet relevant hashtags in my promotional tweet. If you can have other engaged followers that can share your tweet that could prove helpful in getting your book out there.

Promotion Sites

Another important arsenal in getting the word out on your Kindle promotion are book promotion sites. There are hundreds of sites that will promote your books. When choosing a site you will want to note each site’s policies, prices, and acceptable genres. You will also want to note how far-reaching their promotional efforts go. What are some of the ways they promote their books to readers (i.e. newsletter, Facebook, Twitter, etc.)? How large is their readership? The larger their readership the more exposure you can get from being featured which can help boost sales. Those are just some of the questions you will want to ask yourself. If you’re on a budget like myself and looking for sites that will promote your discounted book for free you can check out this extensive list of sites with some offering free submissions.

Important: while some sites allow you to submit your book for free they cannot guarantee your book will be granted a slot due to the number of requests they get. For additional book promo services to promote your discounted book check out this page.

Other ways to get the word out is by word of mouth. As I noted in an earlier post, never underestimate the power of self-promotion. After all it’s free. Other platforms you can advertise is through your blog, author site, or through an email newsletter. These are just some of the ways you can spread the word without breaking the bank. And if you have loyal followers, chances are they will help spread the word whether it’s by sharing your post or tweeting your book to your network. I’ll admit there’s a lot of work that goes into planning a promotion and I’m taking risks along the way. Will all this pay off at the end? It’s too early to tell whether this will be successful or a flop. But with your support anything is possible.

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Writing Gigs: My Review on Writer’s Access

A few posts back I wrote a post about writing gigs and what to look for. In Part 2, I want to talk more about one of those writing gig sites: Writer’s Access. As a relatively new member, here’s my experience so far using the site and what you can expect from a writer’s perspective.

For those not familiar with Writer’s Access it’s a site that helps customers find qualified freelance writers. Many of the people posting gigs are small independent firms or businesses. The types of gigs offered vary from one-time gigs to ongoing writing assignments. The gigs typically range from writing a blog article to writing web content for a particular business or individual. Freelance writers can apply to the pool of open jobs that they qualify for and that interest them. Conversely customers have the final say who will take the job.

Vetting System

Getting setup as a writer is a multi-step process with the applicant needing to fill out necessary tax and contact info. However the bulk of the setup is your profile. The types of jobs available to a freelance writer are filtered based on your skill level. When you first apply to be a freelance writer you are expected to fill out your experience including your expertise in different industries (ex: Technology). While not every field is required to be filled out, it’s still important that it’s filled out thoroughly as your credentials will be displayed on your profile for customers to view when reviewing candidates to pick. At any time that you need to make changes you can easily go back and edit any one of the fields.

But before you can take any jobs, the site vets all of its writing applicants by making them take an extensive general assessment of their skills. The assessment will take you some time to complete so just be prepared to carve out at least 15-20+ minutes to complete. The questions will test you on grammar, punctuation, spelling, sentence clarity and best practices for search engine optimization. Once complete, your final assessment score will determine your starting skill level. This will determine the types of jobs that you’ll be available to apply to since customers can dictate the skill level for their particular job posting. You want to do a good job on the assessment because the higher your score the more jobs you have to choose from.

While most writers will fall somewhere in the middle, the site does offer applicants the opportunity to test their skillset in a number of different specialties ranging from copywriting to legal. While I have not taken these additional tests – the general test was hard enough – it’s a great opportunity to build your skillset in different specialties and have a certification to showcase to others.

Managing Orders/Payments

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The site does a good job of condensing the information you will need if you’re logging in as a writer. By way of a dashboard you can view your orders, available casting calls, your current stats, payments, messages, and garage space (aka people that like you and may keep you in mind for future jobs). Most of these are self-explanatory but I will explain the main ones.

Under “Manage Order” you can view any current orders as well as any previous orders. You can view the number of available casting calls you can select from. Note while the amount of different postings may be over 100, if you’re skill level is 3 or less you may see far fewer in your job pool. Once you click on the job posting you will be able to read the description of the assignment, specific instructions to follow and the proposed payment amount. Granted some jobs do not list the proposed price which either leads the writer to assume the job is really unpaid or that payment is negotiable.

However keep in mind you will still have to manually apply to these jobs. To apply you have to select a job posting and fill out your pitch under the text box field “Make your case.” While this is optional it will supposedly give you a better edge. Most of the time when I apply for small writing jobs I never hear anything back. While the customers are likely not required to reply back to applicants they rejected it would be nice to get some kind of auto-reply or message that it was at least received or being reviewed. But I digress.

Once accepted you will have a due date of when the job is expected to be completed. During this time you can contact the customer for any auxiliary questions you may have. The order is placed in hold or pending status until the customer responds back. You will see any pending orders you have in your dashboard. From my experience the customer was prompt in responding to any question I had. Once completed,  you will see the promised payment amount reflected in your dashboard which will be paid out within the next pay period. In my experience I saw the payment reflected in my Paypal account. Granted you won’t find many gigs with a high payout. Most payments are a fixed flat rate although depending on the customer you may be able to negotiate.

Although there’s more aspects of the site to dig into, my initial experience has been mostly positive. I will have to be accepted for more jobs before I can comment on this extensively but the setup is pretty simple and professional. Here’s a brief overview of the pros and cons.

Pros

Good vetting process for writing applicants
Simple and easy to view dashboard to keep track of orders
Quick payment turn-around
Ability to gain experience/certifications in different writing specialties
Email notifications for new jobs
Automatically filters out what jobs you see based on skill level
Opportunity to improve your skill (star) level through a good track record

Cons

Cannot retake the general assessment
Not all jobs post their payment rates upfront for customers to make informed decision before applying for job
No notification or acknowledgement when you apply for a job. Note: You may get a message from the customer explaining why but this is more the exception rather than the rule
Duplicate postings for the same job

Despite it’s flaws, it’s reassuring to know that both the customer and the writer are held accountable for the orders. This and other factors makes me trust that this is a reputable site. Granted if you’re starting out don’t expect to find a lot of gigs that pay a lot. You may need to take on several gigs to make any consistent, substantial cashflow. I do see this as more of a nice side hustle for a writer to supplement their income or to get some pocket change.

Would I recommend this site?

Yes, for all the reasons I highlighted in my pros and more. You get to decide what jobs interests you the most or you have enough experience in that you feel competent to accept. Granted there are days when none of the job postings seem remotely interesting or relevant to you but chances are you’ll eventually find something you feel you can take on. Overall it’s a good place to gain experience in the writing world. It’s also a great opportunity to hone your skills for future side endeavors such as professional editing. With each order you complete on time, you build trust and rapport with existing and future customers. In conclusion don’t expect to make a lot of money from this (at least not right away). Instead see it as a springboard to diversify your portfolio as a writer.

For those that have tried Writer’s Access or similar sites what were your experiences? I would love to hear from you!

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Don’t miss another deal! Sign up to get dibs on Kindle countdown deals before anyone else this Black Friday.

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Are you Visible?

In a related post I asked that same question when it came to visibility on the web whether that be a blog or a website you created. But really this is a question that every person that is selling or promoting their content should be asking. Anyone in business knows that you need to put your product out there for others to buy. Although I typically don’t associate writing to being a business, in many ways it is. You have a product you’re trying to sell. You need a place or platform to sell. You rely on customers to buy the product to generate sales. And to draw more customers you need to market your product effectively. Same thing applies to writers selling on various platforms.

Visibility- Why it matters?

Due to a growing demand to shop online, Amazon has and still is the most popular platform to sell and buy products. Reasonably any writer that is serious about visibility will want to be found there. The problem is that because of the mass volume of products particularly books, it is becoming increasingly difficult to stand out. If your intended audience can’t find your book, your book will fade into oblivion no matter how good you think it is.

It’s key to remember that your book will not appeal to everyone. And that’s OK. Everyone has different tastes. That’s why when you’re thinking of marketing you already need to have in mind your target audience and tailor your marketing to appeal to them. Once you have an intended audience and a high quality product you need to position your book in front of them. But how do we do that?

Keywords

One main way is through keywords. Keywords are search terms that can be used to describe our book. The keywords should be reflective of the actual product as well as the niche market you’re targeting. In fact keyword searches are one main way customers come across your books on sites like Amazon. Although easily overlooked, choosing the right keywords is essential to your visibility on sites especially on Amazon, where sales rank determine where you fall in the page schema. As a writer you want to be one of the top results or at least on page one.

[image error]Google search result

To illustrate why this is important, think of when you are typing a question or topic on Google. Usually a person will click on the top results. Why? Because 1) It’s what our eyes see first and 2) We assume it’s relevant. However if we don’t see what we’re looking for we continue to scroll down the first results page. Rarely do we continue scrolling to the next page unless none of the results proved to be helpful. Same thing with books. The lower your sales rank, the more scrolling readers have to do to find you. If your book is buried on page 7, chances are competing books will catch the reader’s eye instead of yours. If you want to be visible, readers should be able to easily find your book. Don’t make them work for it.

How to Choose the Right Keywords

Choosing the right keywords is a lot harder than it appears. You really have to think what type of book you’re selling and what sets it apart from others. Here are some important questions to consider.

What is the genre/subgenre? (cozy mystery, teen romance, Alt/historical, Sci-Fi/dystopian, etc)
What is the intended age of the target audience? (e.g. children, middle grade, YA, or adult)
What is the subject matter of the book?
How would others describe your book? Put yourself in the reader’s shoes. Think about what terms they would use to describe your book. That’s key because those same terms are what they’re entering in their searches!
What are popular keywords others are using with similar books? What’s currently trending?

The last bullet points may be harder to answer because it feels like a guessing game. After all you can’t read people’s minds. Let’s not forget that humans are complicated creatures and hard to predict at times. Therefore keywords are in constant flux. This requires you to do some homework to minimize some of the guess work. That’s why people are literally paying for online services just to find keywords to optimize their sales rank. After doing some research on the topic I realized I needed insider knowledge to help me choose better keywords.

The good news is that there are keyword research tools out there. Some of those resources will cost you money but you can find free keyword research tools by doing a Google search. Some of them like SellerApp will give you a free trial for a week before you are expected to pay to continue to use their services. Tools like SellerApp track the search volume of the keywords you enter which is a great indicator for how popular that keyword is. They will even suggest similar keywords to the ones you enter allowing you to see which ones are trending among similar products.

You will discover that many keywords are not a single word but rather a phrase. Use those as your keywords. If you are using Amazon you can choose up to 7 keywords. KDP Select recommends using relevant keywords. At the same time, authors are advised against using the same words in the categories you picked out. Think of your chosen category as a keyword in itself. You want to make every keyword count and cover as many different keywords as possible.

Do you want to be visible? I know I do. I’ll admit I was one to overlook keywords only to put myself at a greater disadvantage. But the good news is we don’t have to stay invisible. Nor do we have to take a stab in the dark about choosing the right keywords. There are ways to make our books more visible and have them in front of the people that would appreciate them the most. While there are many more factors to increasing your visibility as a writer than choosing the right keywords, this is a great step in the right direction. I’m not guaranteeing you’ll be the best seller in your category. There’s more factors at play than I can elaborate on in this post. But if you choose the right ones, users are more likely to run into your book.

 

 

Additional Resources

If you’re looking for more information on this topic I recommend David Gaughran’s book: Let’s Get Visible (2nd edition). This is a great resource for every indie writer trying to get their works out there on Amazon. He also released a third edition: Let’s Get Digital that’s also worth checking out entitled: Let’s Get Digital.

 

***Stay tuned for future posts where I dish on what keyword research tools you should consider.***